Wednesday 30 October 2013

Do you write everyday?

Am always curious how other authors, balance the work-write routine. Here's how Charles O'Keefe, author of The Newfoundland Vampire series, gets around it:  
"For me I guess it’s not so complicated, I’m married but with no kids I still have a lot of free time. With that said my hobbies do distract me and all kinds of promotional activities involved with writing do as well. I find the best way to do this is to make a little schedule, set aside some time every day for writing. I have a routine, I try to get up between 6:30-7am (Monday to Friday) and start writing by 7:30 am or so. I don’t try to overdo it (I do have to go work eventually ;), just 30-45 minutes in the morning and then if I’m on a roll maybe another 30-45 minutes at night. I also just try to do 1-2 (single spaced) pages a day. Surprising if you stick with this after 4-5 months you have the rough draft of your book done! (at least I do). I find also that my day job isn’t very mentally demanding (most of the year anyway) and it gives me time to think on what I’ve written that day and where I’ll go next. If you imagine a scene and work out the details it’s a lot easier when you sit down to write it. Also I find a big help is do an outline for your whole book (or at least 2 or 3 chapters ahead). With an outline I always know where the story will go next (not that it can’t be changed). In fact I do two outlines, one is vague and just summarizes each chapter while the other breaks down every event in each chapter in numerical order. 
The second outline is more for use with my editor but I have on occasion used it myself.Of course there are times when real life gets in the way but I find once you get into the writing groove it’s something I enjoy and it’s nice to see progress. Be realistic and don’t try to write for hours on end, at  least that’s what works for me. Thanks again and happy writing everyone!"




Genre: Horror / Paranormal / Romance / Vampire
Publisher: Penumbra Publishing
Formats Available In: All eBook formats and Print
Release Date: January, 2011

Blurb: Joseph O’Reily is still adjusting to the lifestyle and the dangers that come with being a new vampire. He and Cassandra recently fought to the death with Cassandra’s estranged husband John Snow, and now Joseph has experienced his first ménage a trios, as only a vampire can. As if all of this was not complicated enough, he and Cassandra have been tasked with hunting down and killing a rogue vampire, Donald Rathmore. Another of John Snow’s creations, Donald is an evil misogynistic killer in his own right. Donald has no interest in avenging his creator’s death, but killing 

Cassandra is at the top of his list.While Donald continues his murderous spree, Joseph and Cassandra always seem to be one step behind him. The chase is further complicated as they encounter other vampires and learn more about the mysterious nature of the Vampire Council and the coming war between good and evil. Joseph is only now beginning to trust Cassandra, and this trust will be shaken when he discovers she has even more secrets than he imagined. Her idea of justice and morality is at complete odds with his own. Despite all his powers and growing skill, Joseph is tested physically as a vampire and emotionally by Cassandra. This time the answers and challenges may be too much for the young vampire to handle.

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Sunday 20 October 2013

Editing while you write, makes you wise? Almost!

This is a guest post from fellow author Jack Eason:

When I first began seriously writing back in 1995, I wish I had adopted what I like to refer to as the constant editing technique at the time. But back then I was yet to be published.
What can I tell you – after almost eighteen years of writing I have finally found a process that works for me. Each and every word is not only spelt correctly, but its particular version is also carefully selected via the process of working through the Oxford English Dictionary, plus utilizing the process of synonyms by right clicking on a word, which offers you a choice of alternatives. As an example of which form is correct for a given circumstance within any sentence, I give you  earth as opposed to Earth. Both forms are correct according to the OED, but earth is the usually accepted form.

I finally decided to adopt the technique last year while writing my last eBook novella The Forgotten Age. I’m glad I did. Apart from reducing the errors to an absolute minimum, bearing in mind that no book is ever totally error free, it also ensures that the darned Goodreads and Amazon trolls, plus the odd one or two individuals who just love to find fault, tend to refrain from voicing their opinion in the form of a one star review on either site.
But no matter how meticulous your approach may be, you have to be prepared for those people who absolutely hate your work.Face it folks, you cannot please everyone, no matter how hard you try.

Returning to the main thrust of this post about adopting the constant editing technique, It would not suit most writers as it drastically slows down the whole writing process, particularly the prolific in our ranks. By using it you can forget about any form of daily word count target, something that many new and seasoned writers think is the be all and end all to get that next book out there into book land.

These days since adopting the technique, I’m lucky if I write a paragraph each day before editing. Back in 1995, I would have been thoroughly disappointed. No longer…

Jack's latest book The Next Age is a new pure science fiction eBook novella set in the thirty-second century.


Prepare yourselves for a wild ride as you read about an apocalyptic possible alternative future for mankind. The Next Age follows our fight for survival in the thirty-second century. It's not too late. We still have time to change our ways. This story need not become a reality... 

For countless millennia we swallowed the myth perpetrated by the world’s many religions that we were the only sentient species in the cosmos made by an all-powerful God. As it turned out it was an arrogant belief. In the twentieth century, during the period known as the Cold War, between America and its allies versus the former Soviet Union and its acolytes, we revealed our existence to the universe by launching two probes into deep space. The whole event passed into history and was completely forgotten until the thirty-second century, when mankind got a wake-up call that none of us were prepared for...  
 
About the author
Jack Eason lived in New Zealand for forty-two years until 2000 when he returned to his birthplace in England. As far as he is concerned he will always consider himself to be a Kiwi. After military service in the 1960′s, he travelled the world, visiting exotic lands and making many friends. Now in his mid-sixties he is content to write and travel via the Internet. Besides writing novels and short stories, he contributes to his own blog “Have We Had Help?” Some of his short stories and numerous articles appear in the No: 1 online E-zine Angie’s Diary 

His literary interests include science fiction, history, both ancient and modern, and humorous tales like those written by his fellow writer Derek Haines, such as HAL. Now retired, he lives in his home town surrounded by his favourite books, ranging from historical fact to science fiction. His literary icons are J.R.R Tolkien, George Orwell, Arthur C Clarke and John Wyndham

In the US you can find his books here

If you live in the UK, you can find his books here